Somewhere to Begin
by UwIllNevERn0
Summary: From living her "dreams" to embracing a world she never thought she would enter. Feeling the weight of the success, Sakura Haruno completely reinvents her life. Still, nothing ever told her that one person was all she needed to be happy: Sasuke Uchiha.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello readers! _

_So this story is just something quick and nice that just kind of popped up in my mind. _

_I wanted it to be a one-shot, but that didn't work... _

_Whatever. Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

_On to the story._

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_**Somewhere to Begin**_

_**Prologue**_

"_Some of the greater things in life are unseen that's why you close your eyes when you kiss, cry, or dream..."  
Anonymous _

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A young woman in her prime years of life entered the quiet and quaint café, Java Cup. The scent of mashed coffee beans and freshly cooked pastries engulfed her senses as she spotted the table she was looking for. Shaking off her jacket and hat, she placed the items on the coat rack as she walked to the corner of the comfy and familiar room to a booth with a blonde woman with baby-blue eyes.

"Hey, Ino." The aforementioned woman snapped her head up and smiled.

"Hey, Sakura. I got your favorite." Ino lifted a coffee cup and handed it to Sakura while she sat down in the booth across from her. Sakura smiled at Ino with her dazzling teeth and shining emerald eyes.

"Thanks, you know me so well." Sakura flipped her pink-shoulder length hair out of her face.

"We never get to meet up like this anymore! You work way too hard." Ino smoothly took a drink from her hot chocolate. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"I have to make a living you know. Running the Konoha Hospital helps me do that." Ino sighed.

"But are you really happy?" Sakura froze, her coffee cup halfway to meeting her lips, she inhaled a quick gulp of air before lowering her drink back to the table. By her facial expression, it was obvious that this was not the first time the two had had this conversation.

"Ino, we've gone over this before, I-"

"I know, I know. You're living your dream: you have that white house on the corner of the park over-looking the lagoon, you have enough money to live comfortably, you own the hospital…But I think you forgot something." Sakura stared at Ino, silently telling her to continue.

"What happened to the perfect family you wanted? With a husband and children?" Sakura smiled sadly back her best friend and let out a cold laugh.

"Well I saw childbirth at the hospital many times and I decided-"

"Bull shit!" Ino yelled in the small room, attracting many unwanted gazes. Sakura turned to reprimand Ino but stopped. Sakura paused and turned her head away.

Sakura thought back on everything Ino had said and realized she was right.

Her life had been nothing but overrated bull shit.

"But Ino, I don't know _how_ to do that! How do I start over now?" Sakura looked down into her reflection in the black liquid of her cup.

Ino stared silently at her. Ino reached slowly into her bag and pulled out a worn book. The deep brown cover that used to cover it was peeling off and its spine had been taped together many times by an assortment of multi-colored duck tapes. Ino opened her mouth to say something then closed it, unsure of how to propose the idea to her friend. She took a deep breathe of the sweet tasting air of the café.

"Sakura." The beautiful woman looked up. For the first time in a long while, her spirit was broken. The bags under her eyes that were barely noticeable at first showed though plainly, her hair looked limp and dull, and her expression unreadable. Ino fidgeted at her companion's sudden change in appearance.

"I like where I am in life." Ino started her story slowly, lengthening each word to emphasize her point. "I don't have a great job, but I love it. I love running my parent's old flower shop. I may not have a dream house, but I've made it my _home_. I even have someone I love dearly." Her thoughts flickered to her lazy boyfriend and she smiled.

"Ino, I don't think I can start over." Ino picked up the book she had placed on the table earlier. Sakura gazed at her in confusion.

"This was my old diary. I wrote down five things I might have ever wanted in life, and they came true." After Ino placed the book in Sakura's hand, she immediately began to flip through the old and yellowed pages of the book.

"But how-" Ino silenced her with a hand movement.

"Write down five things you want in life, and watch the magic happen." Ino smiled at her friend. Sakura burst out laughing.

"Ino, writing down what I want isn't going to make them appear. None of the things I want would come true." Ino winked.

"Well then, you better make them come true." Sakura looked at her friend in gratitude.

"I guess it's a start." The pair laughed.

"You need somewhere to begin."

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Sakura opened the door to her "dream" house and closed it roughly behind her. She placed the keys in the basket next to her. After walking down the long hallway she entered her bed room. Staring at the empty spaces in her house and its barren atmosphere, Sakura realized something.

This house was not meant for just one person to live in.

It was a big house meant for a big family, with so many memories and people that they needed the long hallways and large bedrooms to fit everything they needed. She was just one person, with one boring, hyped up life.

Sakura angrily threw her bag down on her bed, its contents spilling out. She looked at the rough cover of Ino's diary. Finally making up her mind, she grabs a pen and flips to the first blank page.

_The five things I want to achieve happiness in life:_

_5. Spare time: where I could hang out with friends, be with an "significant other", or just by myself, but never bored._

_4. Never lonely: alone and lonely are not the same. I want to feel like I can always depend on somebody else without them actually being there. _

_3. Contentment: to be satisfied where I am regardless of the situation._

_2. Find my passion: it may be saving lives, but running the hospital doesn't allow me to do that. I might not be the boss anymore, but I want to do what I was trained to do. Maybe I'll discover something else while I'm at it. \_

_1. Find the love of my life: The thing every woman wants. _

Sakura sat back and looked around the room. After writing the entry, she walked over to her desk and began to dial a phone number. She waited patiently for the other line to pick up.

"_Hello, Atrika real estate agency here, how may I help you?"_ Sakura smiled widely and said the sentence she never thought she would say.

"Hello, this is Sakura Haruno. I'd like to sell my house."

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_Read and review! Tell me what you like and whether I should continue or not. It might seem a little rushed, but that's because it is the PROLOGUE. _

_If I don't get very many reviews the story is just gonna stay like this… _


	2. Chapter 2

_So….._

_I'M SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED MY STORIES IN HALF A YEAR! _

_It's been so busy, and I can't promise a quick update. But, If you review more, I might update sooner. ;)_

_My writing skills hopefully progressed from the last time I've written. Please don't be too harsh..Please._

_Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto._

_Have you ever heard the song "Somewhere Only We Know" by the Keane?_

_It's the inspiration for this ENTIRE STORY. No joke, one listen was all it took._

* * *

_**CHAPTER 2**_

**Oh Sympathy, Where Have You Gone? **

* * *

Sakura smiled sadly at the young couple moving into her old house. The woman seemed to be close to her age, and was already six months pregnant. What she assumed to be her husband held her hand in his and whispered sweet nothings and promises to her. After staring at her old house as a final good bye, Sakura slid into her car, accidently shaking the "SOLD" sign near the mailbox.

Making sure all her boxes were secured tightly in the back, the rosette drove quickly out of sight of the movers before she could change her mind. Making a tight right turn at the end of the lane, Sakura headed to what would be her new house.

She forced herself not to look back.

* * *

Sakura sighed and slammed her car door shut. Looking at the small apartment complex, her heart raised with suspended joy.

A new start. That was exactly what she needed.

She stacked her five, and only five, heavy boxes on top of each other. She grabbed the keys the landlord gave her and carried the boxes up the staircase. Sakura's face contorted in concentration and she tried to find the steps she was walking on.

The weight was never a problem. Sakura was known for her strength in the rough conditions of her hospital.

But balance, now that was a completely different story.

"Do you need help with that?" Sakura, being as stubborn as she was, ignored the annoyingly loud male voice.

"Hey! Wait, come on, I'll help you." Sakura sighed. She tried to see the face of who was talking to her, but the large boxes blocked her point of view.

"Fine. Take the one on top." Of course, instead of taking one the young man lifted three boxes.

"OOF! These are heavy! You have got to be, like, HULK-A or something!" Sakura ignored the hardly complimentary comment. Trudging up the steps, she looked next to her and saw fluffs of dirty blonde hair.

"Hey, what's your room number?"

"Um… Twenty-six B." The guy seemed to be the kind of the unnaturally happy and optimistic sort.

"No way! I'm two doors down! Welcome neighbor! Well, not really neighbor but more of… almost neighbor. Well, not really that either… WHATEVER! Ugh." She heard him sigh and silently contemplate. "Anyway, what's your name almost neighbor?"

Sakura decided by then, that she liked this scatter-brained male.

"I'm Sakura Haruno." They finally reached her door, slightly aged and beaten, and released the boxes from their now sore arms. Reaching for her keys, Sakura studied the energetic blonde in front of her. With dirty and ruffled hair, deep blue eyes, and a tan and toned body, he was no doubt good-looking. A wide and goofy grin spread across his face, and Sakura couldn't help but smile back.

"I've heard of you! You run the hospital right?" Sakura nodded and kicked open the rusted apartment door. She brought in her boxes and opened one quickly, taking out the item she was looking for. The pink-haired woman grabbed the picture frame and placed it on the table beside the door, making it the first thing to see.

"By the way, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Nice to meet ya!" Naruto invited himself in and stared at the picture Sakura just placed on the table.

"Who are they?" Referring to the picture, which showed five girls eating pizza. Sakura turned and faced Naruto.

"The girl with buns-" Naruto snickered and Sakura's patience began to wear "is Tenten. The one with pig tails is Temari. Hinata has the clear eyes and blue hair. And Ino is the one with two pizza slices in each hand. "

Naruto smiled and jumped up,

"I know Ino!" Sakura raised an eyebrow immediately feeling guilty for not having the time to ever meet Ino's new friends (and boyfriend) she gushes about.

"Really?"

"Yea, Shikamaru's girlfriend! He actually lives next to you!" Naruto ran out the door and proceeded banging on her neighbor's door. While the two males outside were arguing, Sakura surveyed her home.

It was, simply put, small, crowded, and had thin walls that allowed her to hear the neighbors' arguments.

She liked it.

"Huh, so this Ino's best friend? Forehead girl, was it?" Sakura saw who she assumed was Shikamaru in the door way with Naruto laughing in the background.

"So this must be Shikamaru, her lazy ass boyfriend with a head shaped like a pineapple." Sakura laughed when she saw his smirk change to a frown.

"She got you there, Shikamaru." Naruto grinned when he heard his male companion mutter a muffled "troublesome". He then turned to the twenty-five year old woman sitting on the couch.

"So if your head of the hospital, why you living here? And are the girls in the picture, like, your best friends?" Sakura shrugged carelessly to the first question.

"Yea, they are my best friends, we went to high school together. And don't say 'like' Naruto, you sound like a dumb blonde." Shikamaru and Sakura laughed at his confused face. Standing up and brushing off imaginary dust, Sakura faced them with her hands on her hips.

"Now, if you don't mind, I would like to get aquatinted with my new home." Naruto sighed exasperatedly.

"Damn it! Shikamaru, what the fuck does 'acquainted' mean? I can't handle so many people who speak big words!" Shikamaru sighed at his oblivious friend.

"Let's go, Naruto. You can look it up in a dictionary when we get home. And nice meeting you Sakura." Sakura sighed when the door shut, even though she could still hear Naruto's loudmouth complaints about having to look up something in a dictionary.

Then moving to her boxes, she took out Ino's old diary and wrote the date in the right hand corner.

* * *

_Phase 1, complete. _

_Events of today:_

_Moved out of my now sold dream house into a cheap apartment complex that has mold in every corner of the room._

_Was surprised to discover that I live next to Ino's boyfriend._

_Met some weird and hyper blonde that does not know the meaning of the word "acquainted". Making me assume he's an idiot. _

_Can still hear two aforementioned idiots arguing through the thin walls. _

_Now initiating Phase 2._

* * *

Sakura moved to grab some papers she had already scattered across a small table in the living room. The main title of the page, stood out with its red and bold printing.

"**RESIGNATION DOCUMENTS **

**Position:** Head of Hospital, so technically I have to submit this too myself. Waste of time.

**Reason for leaving: **Too much damn work."

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REVIEW! PLEASE! I BEG YOU TOO!

Sorry if it was boring, I almost feel asleep typing it.


	3. Chapter 3

_I'm trying to update my stories even though finals are just around the corner. So don't expect too much._

_I want to update at least ONE of them…at least. _

_I don't own anything but the plot line, so no worries. _

* * *

_**CHAPTER 3**_

**Something to Rely on**

* * *

Sakura shut the door to her new apartment, shoving in the keys hoping that the rusted piece of wood would be able to provide some resistance to an intruder. She sighed and walked away without much thought on the well being of her new living situation.

"Hey, girly!" Sakura turned her head to see, much to her surprise, Ino's head popping out of her boyfriend's door. Walking over, they gave each other a greeting hug.

"What are you doing, here?" The baby blue eyes began scrutinizing her carefully before coming to an incorrect conclusion. "Was that…" she paused before producing an animated gasp, "did you just have a one night stand?! I am _so_ proud of you! How long has been, like, a hundred million years?!" Sakura rolled her eyes before deciding to stop Ino before she goes too far.

"This is my new house, Ino. Um. Well, not house…apartment." Ino gazed at Sakura who began fiddling with the keys around her neck nervously, eventually the words seeped in and a rare smile spread across the blonde's face. Grabbing Sakura's head, she clasped it in both hands and shook it back and forth like one does to a small child.

"Well, then. I'm even _more_ proud of you." After the comment, Sakura felt reassured. Ino then closed the door behind her as the two girls began to walk down the apartment complex towards the street.

"Two Questions," she waved her index and middle finger in Sakura's face, "One: why are you up at five in the morning? And two: why are you not taking your car?" Sakura turned back to Ino and waved the same fingers in the face of the perpetrator.

"One: I have some extra business to take care of at the hospital," Sakura ignored Ino's obvious eye roll, "and two: it's nice to take a walk sometimes. Don't you want to get back to your boyfriend before he thinks someone kidnapped you?"

Throwing up her hands, Ino turned right around before yelling back to Sakura.

"Fine, fine. Try to escort your friend to wherever, and they use some rude and evasive tactic to try to make you go back." In the mean while, Sakura scoffed at Ino's sarcasm, knowing that all she really wanted was to go back home and greet her dozing boyfriend.

* * *

After the silent and peaceful walk, Sakura arrived to the doors of the hospital. Climbing up the stairs (the elevator was just too conventional for her) she walked vigorously and hoped to make it to her office with out running into any of her co-workers.

"Ms. Sakura." Sakura turned agonizingly slow to see one of the most annoying and incapable employees in the establishment. Along with that, Sakura had no power to fire said woman because she worked with the Union.

"Hello, Ayame." Ayame was about to say something but was cut off by Sakura opening her door and closing it promptly behind her. The slightly overweight girl scoffed before turning to walk away.

"She must be PMS-ing or something."

The Head of the Konoha Hospital sat quietly in her cramped office while trying to organize the scattered papers before her. Remembering a relatively important phone call, she grabbed said device and began dialing numbers in the receiver. Once the fifth ring had ensued and the petite woman's patience run dry, the person on the other line finally decided to pick up the line.

"_Who the HELL calls at 5:30 in the morning?! Do you not know call etiquette?!"_ Sakura would have burst out laughing at this remark but knew that these circumstances differed from the norm.

"Well, if I called at the normal time, you probably would have been out gambling already." She could hear grumbles and curses on the other line before the sound of the cabinet opening and closing.

"_God, I have such a bad hangover. What do you want, Sakura?"_

"Um. Well you see, Tsunade, I would like to ask a favor of you." Sakura fiddled with her long, white coat while the other line waited tolerantly for her remark.

"_So, are you going to tell me, or what?"_ Taking a deep breath of air, the young woman spit out her sentence.

"I would like you to come out of retirement and run the hospital." The sound of glass shattering resonated on the other line.

"_Are you serious? Tell me you're kidding. AND I AM NOT RETIRED, JUST TAKING TIME OFF." _Sakura could not restrain her giggle.

"When you get all the benefits, you technically are. And nope, not kidding." Another silence took place between them.

"_Damn it, I broke my glass. Why do you want to quit?"_ In the musty air of her office, Sakura could see her decision as clear as day.

"I'm not quite ready for this position. Maybe when I'm older, but for now I want to go into research."

"_You are perfectly capable in this position, I taught you with the full intention of you to be ready to take the reigns. Not to mention you've already made a more efficient system and improved various conditions for the patients. So-"_

"I don't _feel _ready for this, Tsunade. So can I trust you to watch over the hospital, or am I going to have to hire someone else?" It was obviously a lie and both of them knew it. Sakura would never trust the hospital to be safe and running in anyone's but her teacher's hands.

"_As long as Shizune can come with me-"_

"That's fine!" Sakura face-palmed herself for showing her eagerness.

"_-then fine. I'll run the hospital." _Unable to help herself, the rosette began jumping in her small office and squealing in happiness.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"_Whatever. I'm going back to sleep." _The line went dead as Sakura sat down into her desk, smiling like she won the lottery.

Leaving through the automatic doors of the hospital, Sakura began to make the peaceful walk back to her apartment, which was relatively close by. The concrete sidewalk and maple trees were enough to satisfy her racing mind. Their differently hued leaves gave a burst of color to the gray background of the city. Inhaling deeply, she listened as her heels clicked loudly on the pavement. Her purse dangled on her arm while she surveyed the alley ways and street lights.

Such simple things can cause people to be happy, like standing back and enjoying the view.

Before Sakura could realize what was happening, a rough pull broke her out of her sweet reverie and landed her into one of the dark and dirty alleys ways she had been admiring but moments before, except now her entire perspective of it has changed. A little peeved and disturbed, Sakura turned to give the person a peace of her mind.

"Excuse me, I was _walking_ there-"Next thing she knew she was slapped and someone was tugging at her purse. Sakura quickly tapped into her survival instincts and punched the man assaulting her.

Now having the time to survey her surroundings, she saw a malnourished yet surprisingly strong and tall man hunched over, ready to spring his next attack. Once Sakura a silver gleam that resembled a knife in his hand, she quickly began to shuffle away and reached for her shoes.

"Back off! I have stilettos!" This did not help as he began to advance towards her. Screaming and throwing her shoes, she tried to take refuge from the slightly insane man. In a few seconds, she had several cuts, but being a doctor she knew that none were serious or to deep. Now desperate and cornered she began to run backwards only to trip on a rusted tin can.

Adrenaline rushed through her as she felt the panic spread into her mind.

"_This is it. I die right when I'm about to turn my life around. Goodbye life, goodbye Ino. Goodbye Tenten, Hinata. Goodbye idiots next door-"_

The next series of events became blurry in Sakura's mind. The hobo, who was about to attack, was pushed over from behind and dragged away as a fight that Sakura was not able to witness occurred. Shuffling, grunting, and screaming filled the ears of the vulnerable rosette. After a few seconds, the atmosphere calmed and the bare-foot woman opened her emerald eyes.

However, the shocked woman was not prepared for the sight that met her, the beautiful god that saved her from the evil hobo, her own guardian angel. His silhouette was outlined by the distant light, but his distinct features were left vague and unclear, like he would disappear in a split second.

That was when Sakura Haruno fell in love.

The man smirked before walking towards her, while she did nothing but stare in amazement at his cool obsidian eyes. Turning to pick up her designer shoes, he smirked at her bewildered state and could not help but make a remark.

"Back off, I have stilettos?"

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You know, reviews **really** motivate me to write more. ;)

Love from,

**UwIllNevERn0**


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